St. John , Indiana -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- With just his dream , determination and hard work , Bill Keith started a solar fan business nearly a decade ago out of his garage in northwest Indiana . The one-time roofer simply wanted to make enough money to care for his family and to create a ripple effect for other workers , particularly in this economically depressed area outside Chicago .

Keith vowed to create his solar attic fans entirely out of parts made in the United States .

Using only the sun 's energy , the fan pumps hot air out of the attic -- lowering cooling bills -- and does n't have to be in direct sunlight to work . His first year , Keith said he barely made enough to scrape by -- about $ 39,000 in sales .

`` It was n't enough to cover expenses , '' Keith recalled .

But he stuck with it and his promise to buy American parts . Keith 's company , SunRise Solar , steadily grew to the point that he could n't keep up with the influx of orders . He looked around for companies that could help him manufacture the fans , concentrating his search in his own backyard . He eventually found a company that could help and needed the extra work about 90 miles away in Warsaw , Indiana .

He bought molded plastic in Indiana as well as fasteners , nuts , bolts and steel . Wire for the fans came from workers in New Jersey , while the motors were from Pennsylvania and Chicago . Even his cardboard boxes were manufactured in nearby South Bend .

Keith had achieved his own small part of the American dream : He became a self-made small-business owner . And in 2008 , his success attracted the attention of the soon-to-be next president of the United States , Barack Obama . That year , he got an unexpected call from a representative of the new administration .

`` He said he was with the Obama transition team looking for small companies , '' Keith recalled . He later met with the man who told Keith , `` we want to interview you , vet you . ''

`` Guy sat right there talking with me , said ' I really love your story and I 'm going to push it up the rank , ' '' Keith said .

And that 's exactly what happened . Shortly after he was inaugurated , Obama held a town hall meeting in the economically devastated city of Elkhart , Indiana . Keith and his wife were asked to come and -- prodded by his wife -- he stood up and told the president about his solar business . He asked Obama what he planned to do to encourage small business owners like himself .

The question turned Keith into a White House solar superstar . ABC , CNBC and other media came calling to tell the story of the roofer who built a solar company out of his garage -- and he did so without a government handout .

`` Move over Joe the Plumber , '' one blog headline declared after his Elkhart appearance . `` There 's a new poster child for hard-working Americans -- and he 's green . ''

Keith 's success story provided good publicity for the White House which called again and again , using Keith to underscore the Obama administration 's goal of pushing America towards new sources of clean energy .

'' ` Can you come to Washington ? Can you come to Philly ? Biden doing this , ' '' Keith said of the numerous requests he received from the administration .

There 's the photo of him with the president and Vice President Joe Biden in Kokomo , another Indiana city hard hit by the recession , as well as an appearance with Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio and many others .

Keith 's story resonated with groups of all political stripes . Republicans got in on the act when Indiana Sen. Richard Lugar named him `` an energy patriot '' and the GOP-leaning U.S. Chamber of Commerce cited his work . Environmentalists also contacted him , and featured him in one appearance after another .

Strange bedfellows , perhaps , but it was a feelgood story of what one American could do in a time when the recession was strangling so many .

`` They were continually inviting me to these things called ` advocacy days ' where they wanted me to meet with senators and congressmen , '' Keith said , noting that he attended many with his wife .

At these events , lawmakers talked about `` how I created a solar product , how it 's good for the environment , for business , '' he said .

'' -LRB- I -RRB- wo n't say they were putting words in my mouth but they had a lot of talking points , '' Keith said . `` I was happy to do it from that point of view . It is friendly to the environment ; it is creating jobs . ''

It also was good advertising for Keith , who could never have afforded the publicity these appearances offered . Orders for the fans , which retail at about $ 500 , came pouring in from places as far away as Hawaii .

`` It grew to where our peak was $ 2 million -LRB- in revenues -RRB- , '' he said , referring to sales in 2009 .

SunRise Solar started exporting fans all over the world . While his home-based business employs only about 21 direct and indirect employees , it brought a much-needed economic boost to an area of the country hard hit by the recession .

Today , Keith 's solar star appears to be on a collision course with another Obama policy that may put him out of business . The irony is not lost on Keith : A man whose profile and company soared because of the administration 's energy policy is now falling apart because of a new Obama anti-dumping policy involving China .

While 95 percent of Keith 's fans are American-made , he has yet to find a U.S. company that can make the small customized solar panels that make his fans run . It 's not that he has n't tried . He initially used a company in Michigan but they stopped manufacturing the kind of panels he needed . Then Keith turned to a New York company but the quality was so bad that he was replacing the defective parts faster than he could sell the fans .

Over the years he begged environmental groups as well as the Commerce Department for help in finding an American company that could make the key solar component . Reluctantly , he agreed to purchase them from a major company in the United States , which bought their panels from another country and then had them customized in Hong Kong . Eventually that manufacturer told Keith to deal with the Hong Kong customizer directly .

Keith said the U.S. Customs Department has accused him of using Chinese-made solar panels , in violation of a tough import policy adopted in May at the behest of major U.S. solar companies . The policy is intended to thwart China from undercutting prices and flooding the U.S. market with cheaper solar panels . The U.S. Department of Commerce is currently reviewing the policy , and is scheduled to make a determination in the fall .

Keith denies that any of part of his solar fans are produced in China , but he admits he ca n't totally prove it . According to Keith , the owner of the Hong Kong company that customizes his solar cells has stated in an affadavit that it buys the cells from the United States , Taiwan and Germany . But Keith worries that testimony wo n't be good enough .

`` The solar panel tariff is a broad-reaching tariff . In my estimation it should n't be geared toward small niche markets like mine , '' Keith said .

Unless he can show specific manufacturing documentation by August 29 , Keith said he could be fined as much as 250 percent on his solar panels -- an effective rate of $ 270,000 .

If that anti-dumping fine is levied , Keith said he will have to shutter his business .

`` These guys are going to put me out of business , '' Keith said . `` I do n't have any help . I 've been trying to get help , no one can help me . ''

Keith said he has never received government financial assistance and is taxed in the 40 percent bracket . He said he has sat by and watched companies like the now bankrupt Solyndra run through taxpayers ' money and not return on the government 's investment .

He said he does n't want a handout -- just a helping hand . So he went back to the well one more time , pleading with Greg Nelson , deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement who Keith said had been his contact with the Obama administration .

Under the subject line his e-mail to Nelson , Keith wrote , `` Hanging on for life here . ''

`` Can you help me before I have to close my doors and let everyone go ? '' Keith asked in the e-mail . `` Please ... I 'm pleading with you . ''

Nelson responded , `` Thanks for bringing it to my attention . I do n't know what is possible , but let me talk to a few folks asap . Will circle back soon . ''

That was nearly a month ago and Keith is still waiting . CNN sent three e-mails to the White House asking about Keith 's situation , and received a reply from a spokesman late Wednesday afternoon . The spokesman stated that the tariff `` highlights the degree to which solar panel manufacturers have faced unfair competition from countries like China '' and the president 's move to impose a tax on Chinese-made goods is a way to establish `` a level playing field with China for American businesses and workers . '' The reply did not address Keith 's situation .

`` When Obama came in office , there were a lot of small business owners who said , ` Hey maybe he 'll help break barriers and help owners ' or he says he will , but it never trickles down that far to help us , '' Keith said . `` Maybe it 's because we do n't have big budgets to donate to campaigns . I do n't know . I 'm just trying to run my company . ''

Romney sets goal of energy independence by 2020

CNN 's Sara Anwar contributed to this story .

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Roofer Bill Keith started a solar fan business nearly a decade ago

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He aimed to make the fans using all American parts and labor

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His success attracted the attention of the Obama administration

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Now , a new trade policy could put him out of business